Vayigash - 7th Portion

Join me as we learn kumish for today shabas the seventh Torah reading of parasash chapter 47 verse 11. Yesterday we learned as Yseph and his brothers are introduced to Pharaoh. The brothers tell them that they are shepherds and therefore they are not drafted to war. They then settle in the land of Gosh. Yakov is brought before Pharaoh, gives him a blessing that the Nile River should rise for him in this way giving the entire Egypt water and watering the fields, canals, and rivers any time Pharaoh would visit the Nile River. Today we continue with Yoseph settling his brothers and his family in the land of Egypt and how Egypt feared during the famine. Verse 11. And settled his father and his brothers and he gave them an estate in the land of Egypt in the choiciest part of the land in the Ramseay's region like Pharaoh commanded. Verse 11. Did he give them Gan or did he give them Ramsees? So Rashi explains Ramsees. Ramsees was the region of where Gosan the land of Gan was in. Verse 12. And Yseph provided bread for his father and his brothers. Asiv and for all of his family he gave them bread according to the needs of the young children. That even though as we're going to see as Rashi explains though at times the children may waste, they still gave them as much as they needed. As Rashi explains verse 12, as much that was needed for the entire family. Verse 13. However, as the Torah goes back to the narrative of what Yseph was doing at the time, administrating Egypt during the years of the famine and in this year of now we're at the year of 2237, the first year of the famine going back to even before the brothers came there. The Torah tells us as follows. There was no bread in the entire region because the famine was very severe. very and at that point the land of Egypt [snorts] and the land of Cananan languished the land of the land of Egypt and the land of Kananov languished because of the famine so Rashi tells us over here we're going backwards before even's brothers arrived as we can see over here he's going back to the original story to the beginning of the years of hunger and This is before Yakov and his sons came down to Egypt which is 2 years into the famine. What does the word mean? Like says similar we find. So it means it was tired. They were worn out because of the famine that was going on. Yseph gathered all the money, collected all the money that was in the land of Egyptan and in the land of by the money that people brought to be able to buy food brought this money to Pharaoh's palace [snorts] with the food that people were purchasing. They would give him money to be able to buy food. Verse 15 and the money that was in Egypt finished. There was no money came to an end from the land of all of Egypt came to Yseph saying give us bread. Why should we die? Because the money has run out. The word complete nothing left. Verse 17. And they brought their cattle to Yseph and Yseph gave them bread for their horses for their cattle in exchange of their cattle for their sheeper in exchange of the livestock in exchange of donkeys. And [snorts] he then took care of them during that year with bread because of all their flock in that year. In exchange of all the lifestyle, Yseph gave them bread that year so they should be able to have food. Rashi says text number verse 17 that he led them, he took care of them. Similarly, we have other places which uses the terminology. There's nobody running it. There's nobody there leading it. Verse 16. We're going back to verse 16. I think we missed it. Yseph said, "Give me your cattle and I'll give you uh I'll give you food in exchange of your livestock if there's no more money." And they brought all their cattle to Yseph gave them bread in exchange of the horses in exchange of the sheep in exchange of their livestock in exchange of the dunkeys. And he led them and he took care of them with bread in exchange of all their livestock in that year. Verse 18. Sorry we went off schedule there. Went out of order, but we're back to order. Verse 18. And that year came to an end. And they came to him the following year. This is the second year of the famine. And they said to him, "We will not deny the truth from our master. Not only have we finished the money as much all the money is gone and the cattle, the livestock is gone. To our master, we have nothing left. There's nothing left before our master built besides for ourselves and our land. What does it mean the second year? So the second year of the famine to the years of the famine we don't have any money because the cattle and the money is now all by our master and we have nothing left. built the only thing that's left. If not for ourselves, what do we have? We have nothing there. So what does Yoseph tell them? So they continue to tell Yseph, why should we perish before you us? Our land acquire us, buy us and our land in exchange of bread. Let us and our land bear servants to Pharaoh send and then you can give us seed and we will then be able to plant a crop and we'll have for the next year and we'll be able to live will not die and this way the land will not become barren as well. What are they going to do with the seed to seed the land even though Yseph told his brothers will be another five years that they won't be plowing and seeding and and harvest if so what are the Egyptians going to plant however once came to Egypt a blessing came and they were able to begin seeding and the and the famine is Finished. That's what we find in the what does it mean? The word comes from the word should not be empty. Not be let go. A field which is not plowed is called empty. It's not plowed. It just stands there and rots away. Verse 20. And Ysef then acquired all of the land of Egypt for Pharaoh because all the Egyptians sold their fields because the famine had become very severe for them of and very difficult for them to tolerate. So the whole land then became pharaohs he was purchased because since they had no money they had to give everything they owned and that's what they gave to Pharaoh. Verse 21. Thereby he then transferred the Egyptian people from city to city from one ed of Egypt's border to the other edge. Rashi Rashi explains text number 21 verse 21. Why did he move them? Why do he take them from place to place? To remind them that they no longer own it. When somebody sits in a place too long, they start feeling ownership. So therefore, you have to move them and let them know you sold up your land. It's no longer yours. So he took the people from one place and moved them to another place. Really? Why does the verse have to tell me about this? to tell you the praise of Yseph. He tried to remove the embarrassment from his brothers. This way the Egyptians should not call them fugitives, people who came from another country, immigrants. This way, what do they say? Because look, you came from another country, you're settling here. However, when he moved the Egyptians from one place to another place, they themselves don't have any rights there. So therefore they were also considered so to speak fugitives or whatever you may call them people who are wanderers and for that reason it took away the embarrassment from his brothers. This is what he did to all the cities that was in the kingdom of Egypt from one end to the other. He was moving people around constantly so they shouldn't feel that they have any ownership to the land. So who are the only people that he did not move? 22 the only land he didn't buy was that of the priests because the priest had an aotment of food that Pharaoh gave them from the lived off that allotment that gave them Muslim so they didn't have to sell their land because they were getting food who are these Rashi tells us the priests anytime you have the which is a priest is serving to a god. Besides the exception of those places where you sometimes you find that a means a person of great leadership, a person who was a great stature like it talks about he was a priest of mid. doesn't necessarily mean he was a priest or a god there but he was a person who was respected as we said before was a lotment of food that they would get bread every single day verse 23 and said to the people since the day I've acquired you and your landfar here now go have some seed and go and sew the ground that will have some produce that will come from it. behold and I behold gave your way and led you the way that you should go with verse 24. And it was when the harvest comes and he tells them you're going to go sew the land. You're going to go giving your seedlings and therefore when the harvest comes you're going to give a fifth to the remaining four parts will be for you to seed grain into the fields to eat it to those that are in your home and to give to your children seedlings that every single year he's telling The allotment that was going to be for the coming years as well. The servants of maid servants that are in your home. The word means the small children that are in your home. Verse 25. And they said to and they said to Yoseph, you saved our lives, let us find favor in the in the eyes of our master and we will be slaves to Pharaoh. verse to find favor in your eyes that we will do as please allow us to do as you said and we accept upon ourselves this law to pay this tax of the 20% that we will give to parro a flat tax that he gave them whatever they make that's what they have to give verse 26 Yseph and Yseph made this the law as a law until the until today on the land of that belongs to Pharaoh for land of Egypt that belong to parro that they would have to give oneif of its produce to parro and the only ones that got an exemption the only land that did not have to pay the tax was the land of the priests that did not belong to parro Maybe that's where the tax exempt laws come to the American government as well. But we see over here that the priests, the nonforprofits, the religious organizations to not have to pay the tax. Verse 26, as a law that this would be that they will not transgress. It doesn't change. This will be the law as it is. Verse 27. Now that we've finished talking about what the laws that Yseph has instituted for the Egyptians, back to the Jewish people. The Jewish people then settled in the land of Egypt that they settled in the choiciest lands of Egypt in the land of Gosh. They established themselves there and they were fruitful and increased greatly. But we are in the land of Egypt. What do they settle? in the land of Gisha that that's part of the land of says that they were they established themselves there. They had a private area that they took their property and they made that theirs and that's where they settled. This concludes the seventh Torah reading of